St. Tammany District Attorney Walter Reed's office sought and received hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra funding from the Parish Council in recent years, just as Reed was using public dollars to pay for cushy benefits for himself and select employees in his office.

Revelations about the special benefits, and the expectation of yet another request for extra money by Reed's office this year, prompted Parish President Pat Brister to call for a legislative auditor's review that can shed light on what exactly Reed's office is doing with that parish money, Brister said in an interview.

In her first extensive public comments about the scandal that has engulfed the once-powerful district attorney, Brister said,"Certainly it's a concern, and those are the questions that I'm being asked. What are we doing to look at their budget and look to make sure that we are sending them is being used in the correct manner," Brister said. "It's a concern of mine and of citizens who are calling about it."

She said Purpera's office told her they are considering her request. Her letter referenced recent media reports that questioned Reed's use of public money. NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and WVUE Fox 8 News have reported on a special retirement and medial reimbursement plan Reed instituted for himself and a handful of employees in his office.

Reed also has asked Purpera to review his office's finances. He sent the legislative auditor a letter on the same day as Brister, saying he wanted "assistance and guidance regarding the areas of my office operation being criticized."

Purpera has said he received Brister's letter first.

The funding parish government provides to the district attorney's office has totaled around $2 million for the last three years, Brister said.

In 2011, records show Reed's office asked for an additional $252,200. That year, records show his office went to the parish council twice - in April and again in June - to ask for money.

That same year, the district attorney's office spent $232,125 on its retirement and medical reimbursement plans offered to select employees, including Reed, records from the office show.

Under the supplemental retirement plan, the district attorney's office contributed 20 percent of each participating employee's salary every year. That equaled about $3,100 a month for Reed in 2011 - the most recent full year of the program.

The program lasted form 2006 to 2012. Reed has indicated his office needed the plan to retain key employees. He has not explained why he included himself in the plan.

Brister, who is not part of a publicly-funded retirement plan, said she would not have had a supplemental retirement program like Reed's.

"I don't know the reasons he did it. I wasn't there and obviously didn't know about it until it was reported," she said. "These are tax dollars that we're responsible for and we have to be absolutely certain we're using them in the correct way."

Brister said the medical reimbursement "is not the common use of tax dollars and we don't do it. I don't know of any other agency that does it."

She also noted that Reed "is the most consistent in coming and asking us for money.... I do not recall it happening" with other agencies.

The parish provides funding for more than 20 agencies, including the sheriff's office, clerk of court and economic development.

Brister said the district attorney's office asked the parish council for an additional $150,000 in 2012, and for an extra $363,000 in 2013, Brister said.

She said her office is awaiting a 2014 request.

In her letter to Purpera asking for an investigative audit of Reed's office, Brister said "we must have insight into his entire spending practices in order to allocate those funds in good conscience."

The embattled chief prosecutor for St. Tammany and Washington parishes is the subject of a federal investigation examining his campaign spending and his relationship with St. Tammany Parish Hospital. Reed has denied wrongdoing.

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed records of Reed's campaign spending at the Castine Center in Mandeville related to both Walter and his son, Steven Reed. Walter Reed's campaign paid Steven Reed's company, Liquid Bread, $29,400 to provide what it called "catering" at a 2012 event.

The Castine Center's records, obtained by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and WVUE Fox 8 News through a public records request, show no evidence that Steven Reed did anything to earn the money.

Reed's relationship with St. Tammany Parish Hospital also is part of the federal probe. Reed was receiving a $30,000 annual retainer to provide legal services from the hospital for nearly two decades.

He claimed he was being paid as a private attorney, but the hospital has maintained its arrangement was with the district attorney's office, not Reed personally. The hospital in recent weeks has released documents that further support their view of the deal.

Brister declined to comment on the hospital payments to Reed's office, saying she didn't have enough information. She appoints a member of the board. But she made it clear she thinks the district attorney's office is ready for new leadership.

"Let's get a new district attorney in there and let them start fresh and they will have seen what was done in the past that garnished so much disrespect for that office," she said.